Thursday, October 18, 2012

Trim the Tree Pillow

For Knock Off Week of So You Think You're Crafty, I found this cute Trim the Tree pillow when I was looking through the new holiday items at Land of Nod. When I saw the name of the pillow, I got very excited because I thought that it was a Christmas tree that little ones could actually decorate. It turned out that the ornaments were stitched on and not removable.

So, when I made my knock off version, I decided to give it my own twist and make the ornaments removable. I sewed snaps onto my tree pillow and then attached snaps to the backs of buttons so that my little ones could decorate the tree however they liked, over and over again.

I started with a trip to Jo-Ann Fabric to find some green trim for my tree. When I turned up empty handed, I decided to just dye my own. I'd never used fabric dye before, but it wasn't too difficult. I attempted to remove my eyelet trim from the dye at three different intervals in order to get different shades, but that didn't really work. So, I just ended up with a tree that was all the same color, which was fine with me.

After my trim dried well, I ironed it and laid it out. I trimmed up my pieces for length, folded over the ends, and ironed them.

I randomly started sewing on snaps to hold my "ornaments".

I pinned everything into place before sewing it all down.

I stitched my trim on and then zig-zagged a piece of burlap for the tree trunk.

I attached my buttons to snaps by either sewing them on or using super strong glue, depending on the button.

My mom also had the idea that it would be cute to add some snaps around the trunk and attach some snaps to square buttons for gifts or even buttons that look like toys. I just ran out of time for this step before my contest entry was due, but I think that would be a fun addition.

Obviously, these button ornaments would be a choking hazard for young children. My girls are old enough that this isn't an issue, but please don't make this for young kids who might be tempted to put the buttons in their mouth!

Little hands have been busy decorating and re-decorating this tree pillow. I tried to put it away with the Christmas decorations, but it's since been pulled back out. I guess we just started decorating a little early this year!